Deering hands Spartan girls first defeat of season

Thursday

Dec 27, 2012 at 3:15 AM

By John CochinSanford News Sports Editor

SANFORD — Last Thursday’s battle of unbeaten Class A girls basketball teams didn’t end the way the Sanford girls would have liked, as they dropped their first contest of the season to the still undefeated Deering Rams by a 32-19 score in a game played in Portland. The loss dropped Sanford’s record to 3-1 while Deering improved to 5-0.

Not only was the Deering offense dominant throughout the game, the Ram defense also came to play, holding Sanford’s top scorers to single digits as Morgan Fogg was limited to six points while Sam Adams and Heather LeBlanc each scored five.

The Rams took control early, using a 17-4 run late in the first quarter and into the second on the way to a 28-9 halftime lead. With Heather LeBlanc scoring four of her points, Sanford opened the second half with a 6-0 run to cut Deering’s lead to 28-15 with just 3:35 gone in the quarter, but that would be all the scoring Sanford could muster until the late minutes of the game as they suffered an 8-minute scoring drought that lasted until the final 2:33 of the contest.

Deering actually didn’t score in the fourth quarter, taking just one shot over the final eight minutes of the game.

The Rams were led by Keneisha DiRamio and LeeAnn Downs with nine points each and Marissa MacMillan with eight.

Sanford played without the services of senior defensive standout Janelle Cannon who was sidelined temporarily because of an ankle injury.

On Friday, Sanford will resume its schedule with a 1 p.m. game against Kennebunk there. Their next game is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 2, when they host Noble in a 7 p.m. encounter. On Friday, Jan. 4, they will play at Cheverus.